Broken down, Built Up
by Jason Quill
Summary: Izuku liked to think he had a good life. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a group of friends, a decent paying job, and was relatively healthy. What did he have to complain about? Even if his girlfriend could be...a bit testy. And all those friends were just her friends. But hey, things could always be worse.


"Izukuuuuu! Wake up, baby!"

He felt the waking world demand his cooperation, and a groan slipped past his dry lips. Well, no, more like his girlfriend demanding it, and if the shaking of his shoulder was anything to go by, she wasn't in the mood to wait. With a grunt he let his tired eyes open, vision filled with his chipped ceiling and low light. A frown forming on his face, he turned his head so he could get a blurry view of the digital clock on the nightstand.

'4:45AM. Why…?'

With a huff leaving his nose, he slowly pushed himself up before slipping out of his bed, the sluggish movement making him sway. Reaching for the nightstand he grabbed his thick-framed glasses and slipped them on, instantly clearing his vision.

And that meant he could see _her _much better.

She was shorter than him, though only by a couple of inches, with wild, pale blonde hair that she had put into two messy buns that she thought- no, did- did make her look cute. Her face was round with a slightly pointed chin, and had a pair of narrow eyes with two bright yellow irises and pupils that he swore looked like a cat's. And she currently had a large smile on her lips, sharp teeth gleaming in the light from their lamp.

"Toga…it's almost five in the morning..." He mumbled, voice still heavy with sleep. He opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted as she got on her tiptoes and gave him a deep kiss, hand moving up to grab his chin and keep his head in place. The kiss only lasted a second or two, but that was more than long enough for him to taste the cigarette smoke on her breath and for her to lightly nip at his lip.

"Shush, get dressed. We're going out." She said, pointing to an out of way chair he had in their bedroom, and noticed the clothes tossed onto it. "I already picked out your outfit, so don't worry about taking too long!" And just like that, she was skipping out of the room and left him standing there, slowly blinking as he was still attempting to wake up further.

'...I have to work at 8 though.'

That was the single thought on his mind as he walked over to the chair, eyes on the clothes Toga had grabbed for him. As he walked, he caught a look of himself in the full body mirror Toga had put in his room for when she was actually home. Dull green eyes stared at his pale body, going from his wild, unkempt green hair and soft dusting of freckles, to his narrow shoulders and slim torso. Though he did linger on the rather nasty scar on his abdomen, right where his stomach was.

The sight made him grimace, the skin all puckered and disgusting in his eyes. Tearing his eyes away from the mirror he went to get dressed, unable to stop himself from scrunching up his nose as he saw the clothes Toga had picked out. A black t-shirt with a blood drooling skull and black pants with heavy chains in the pockets. He shook his head and sat the shirt back neatly in the pile before walking over to his closet and pulling out a simple white long sleeve and some blue jeans.

Liking the more simple style, he stepped out of his room and into the hallway. Walking down the hall, he stepped into a cramped room that served as both his kitchen and living room, and found Toga playing with her phone on his ratty couch. Well, to be fair, everything in the apartment building was ratty, but it was also cheap and that's what really mattered. His entrance was quickly noticed by his girlfriend, who turned around with a wide smile, a smile that quickly fell, replaced by a pout.

"Izuku, those aren't the clothes I wanted you to wear!" She whined, hopping up onto his feet and crossing her arms. He lightly winced, rubbing the back of his head and ruffling up his already messy green hair.

"Er...sorry Toga, but I have work in a couple of hours and don't want to have to come back here to change, you know?" He would have also liked to get some more sleep but didn't think he would be getting that anytime soon. She still looked rather ticked off, but just let out a huff while walking over to him, hand clasping around his own and tugging him towards the door.

"Whatever, let's just go." She grumbled as they stepped into the warm night. Thankfully he lived on the lower level of the building so they didn't have to go down any stairs.

"So...where exactly are we going?" He asked, eyes glancing at the only running car in the parking lot, a beat-up looking black jeep that Izuku instantly recognized as one of her friend's cars.

"Tenko's place!" She answered, voice once more taking on a happy tone as she walked to the back of the jeep, opening the back and showing that there were no back seats. In fact, the only seats were the two front ones, the rest of it was carpeted flooring along with two large bean bag chairs on either side of the vehicle's walls.

And in the driver's seat, looking back at them, was one of Toga's friends, Dabi. A boy with spiky black hair and so many piercings he could set off a metal detector. They ran along the shell of his ear, two on his bottom lip, a couple on the ridge of his eyebrow, and six that lined the bridge of his nose. Icy blue eyes stared at the two of them lazily, and he let out a yawn. Though to be fair, he always looked tired.

"Took you long enough. Was about to drive off." He said in a low voice while Toga happily hopped in the back, then looked back at Izuku expectantly. With a weak, tired smile he climbed inside and was moved to sit on one of the bean bags, Toga fitting herself in his lap happily while wrapping his arms around her waist and resting the back of her head against his neck. He felt his freckled cheeks heat up, then jumped as he heard the gag from behind him, tilting his head to look at Dabi, who had a finger in his mouth.

"Oh, sorry. Got sick after seeing you two." He said in a dry voice and returned the raised middle finger that Toga was sending his way. He then turned his head towards the wheel, one hand on it while the other was held out. A second later Toga was tossing him a cigarette, though he kept it held out until another was thrown at the back of his head, a muttered 'bitch' being heard as he went to get it.

And then one was being held up in front of him. He knew he should decline it, knew it was more than just bad for him. But on the other hand, he knew he would need to be relaxed if he was going to Tenko's place. At least that was the excuse he came up with as he opened his mouth and let the cigarette rest on the bottom of his lips, closing around it while Toga got one for herself. A lighter shaped like a 'cute' knife was then pulled out and she went to light her own, and then his.

As the end of the cigarette burned, he took a deep breath, feeling the smoke pour into his lungs, hot and uncomfortable, before letting it out in the form of a cloud in front of him, Toga doing the same so it mixed in the back of the jeep, turning the air foul while he relaxed against the side of the vehicle as he felt the nicotine help him loosen up, chin resting on top of Toga's head, who let out a happy coo. The jeep gave a lurch as Dabi pulled out of the parking lot and into the quiet roads.

* * *

Izuku liked to think he had a good life.

He had a beautiful girlfriend, a group of friends, a decent paying job, and was relatively healthy. What did he have to complain about when it could be so much worse?

Sure, his girlfriend was kind of pushy, got a little jealous sometimes and had a strange way of showing her love.

And yeah, all his friends were mostly Toga's friends, and not many of them really liked him because he was far from the kind of person they liked and just kind of dealt with him. Dabi was cool though, he at least talked to him, even if it was to tease or mock him.

And maybe his job was kind of demanding, and his boss was super strict about his work, not allowing a single flaw. But hey, it was a bar! It made sense that he would want him to do good!

So he tried his best to enjoy his life, not complaining, not starting anything that could lead to a fight, and making a couple of decisions to go along with those around him, even if those decisions were sometimes unhealthy or dangerous.

It could be worse, after all.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a sudden, horrible pain on his arm that made him let out a yelp, arm yanking back and elbow slamming into the jeep, making him hiss while he looked at where the pain had been. And found a round burn wound on his arm, a couple of embers sizzling against his arm and burning the hair around it. Feeling a couple of tears prickling on the edge of his eyes he looked down and found Toga smiling up at him, her cigarette dangling from her fingers loosely, and looked like it was out.

"You were spacing out silly." She answered his unasked question, flicking her cigarette out the window before taking his own, and he felt his cheeks heat up as she let out a small moan once her lips sealed around his cigarette, though he quickly focused on the awful burn on his arm, wincing as it started to cool down, somehow making it hurt worse. Plus, his elbow was starting to throb from how hard he had jerked back.

"Hey, don't go denting my car, fuckers." Dabi called back in that same lazy drawl of his while taking a sharp turn, making them both sway in place and almost tumbled over while he parked in front of a run-down house that looked like the kind of place you would expect from a horror movie. Toga slipped out of Izuku's lap and threw open the back of the jeep, jumping out and stretching out, happy to be out of the cramped vehicle.

Izuku followed after a moment, still more focused on the ugly burn that Toga had given him. He held his arm to his chest while behind Toga, who skipped over to meet Dabi as he stepped out, showing he had on a tattered white shirt, and over it a leather jacket with metal studs on the shoulder, and some light blue jeans with a chain hanging from the pocket. And he towered over both Izuku and Toga as well even if he stood slouched, hands in his pockets.

Those cold eyes went to the arm Izuku was holding to his chest, lifting a pierced eyebrow. Izuku felt his face heat up and gave him a nervous little smile. "Its...nothing." Was all he said, and Dabi took his word, or just didn't care. Izuku felt it was more the latter, the tall man turning and walking towards the old house. Toga skipped after him and Izuku took a breath before slowly following after the duo, the door closing loudly behind him.

Hopefully, they wouldn't be too rowdy.

"TOGA! GIVE MY FUCKING PIPE BACK!"

"Make me shorty!"

They were being very, very rowdy.

Izuku sat on a single wood chair, slouched over and arms resting on his legs while he watched his girlfriend hop over the couch that Dabi was currently sitting on, along with a thin man with long, light blue hair and pale, dry looking skin wearing a long sleeve black shirt and jeans. A second later a boy no older than seventeen did the same, though stumbled on his landing, his blonde hair wild as he chased after the much faster Toga.

The place smelled of all kinds of smokes, from Izuku and Dabi's cigarettes to the pipe (that he doubted he used for weed) currently resting in Tenko's lap. Toga was running with a bong in her hand, spilling water everywhere while a few white flakes fell from her nose. The place was a drug den, that much was more than obvious and Izuku knew he shouldn't have been there, hell he didn't even want to be here. But Toga had wanted him to go and...well it was hard to say no to her.

And a bit dangerous.

"Would you two...stop making a mess of my house." Came Tenko's raspy voice, the sound more than enough to make Izuku shiver and Toga to stop, pout on her lips while she tossed the bong behind her, the kid, who Toga had dubbed 'Mustard' after he showed up with a bunch of mustard stains on his shirt from his job, scrambling to grab it out of the air, glaring murderously at the blonde.

"He shouldn't be so mean!" Toga exclaimed, walking over to the table she had been sitting at and pulling the green leaf Izuku had bought her from the chain, and with a flick of her wrist, the leaf split open to show a wide blade which she used to start piling up any leftover white powder before leaning down to snort it all up, eyes wide and the smile on her lips getting wider.

The sight made Izuku want to throw up, and he focused more on the smoke filling his lungs then watching his girlfriend, hand moving up to take the nicotine stick from his lips to blow a cloud of smoke to join the haze in the room, though frowned as he noticed how short it was. With a huff, he took one more drag before putting the butt in a nearby ashtray, instead of just flicking it across the room as Dabi did. Leaning back in his chair, he looked around the surprisingly clean living room, though the walls were stained with...something. Most likely thanks to all the smoke that tended to float in the room.

"Oi, shit rag."

Izuku blinked, head tilting to face Dabi with a raised eyebrow. The walking pile of metal was looking at him with that same lazy, blank look. But he was also handing out the pipe that had been resting in Tenko's lap, the blue-haired man busy on his ninth cigarette. Glancing at the pipe, Izuku held out a hand while giving a nervous smile, shaking his head.

"Er...n-no than-"

He was interrupted by a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his neck and a head dropping on his shoulder, warm breath washing over his neck and making him go still out of shock.

"You know he's too lame for that, Dabi!" Toga said with a laugh. "But I'm not~! Grab the pipe babe, I want some!"

Izuku grimaced at the idea of even touching the pipe, but glancing down he saw she was still holding her knife and didn't like the idea of her getting agitated while high. Reaching out, she grabbed the pipe before lifting it up for his girlfriend, able to feel her lips wrap around it and settle it so he could let go. Though after a moment he yelped as he felt a pinch to his arm, glancing up to see Toga glaring down at him.

After a moment he realized what she wanted, sighing as he reached behind him, his fingers running along her hips, and making her shiver, in his search for her pocket, fingers dipping in to grab her lighter before pulling it out and flicking it open. With a soft scratch, a flame came to life and he lifted his hand to light the substance resting in the round bowl of the pipe despite the voice in his head telling him not to and listened to the sound of his girlfriend inhaling deeply, breathing in the smoke.

After a couple of seconds Izuku pulled the lighter away and then reached up, grabbing the pipe at the base of where it entered her lips to pull it back. He grimaced at the awful smell wafting off of the pipe, quickly leaning over to place it on the table. And then gagged as a cloud of smoke suddenly poured from behind him, Toga breathing out with a wide smile on her lips while hugging Izuku tighter.

He lifted a hand to cough into while the other waved in front of him, trying to get the disgusting smoke away from him, though it didn't help that it was now coming right off of his girlfriend's breath. He didn't miss the mumbled 'pussy' from Mustard, giving the young kid a glare while leaning back, Toga finally letting him go, only so she could move herself into his lap, arms draped over his shoulder and half-lidded eyes on him.

"Thaaanks baby~" She cooed, Izuku's nose wrinkling as he smelled the crack on her breath, making him want to gag. Thankfully she just leaned in to rest her head on his chest and didn't try to kiss him, which was what he thought she planned. Sighing he wrapped his arms around the drugged up blonde, noticing the stares he was getting from the other three.

"What?" He mumbled, cheeks heating up as he saw Mustard sneer at the both of them before going back to his bong, Tenko just staring blankly, and Dabi giving him a lopsided smirk before holding up a cigarette.

"Trade ya." He said, and Izuku was more than happy to get the foul pipe away from him, and to get a cigarette in his hand instead, having it in his mouth and lit in seconds, taking a deep breath that made Toga coo. "Jeez, you two are so cute together, almost makes me want to throw up." Dabi added, packing the pipe as he spoke.

"Just makes me want to throw up, period," Tenko mumbled while blowing out some smoke from his new cigarette, the two males making Izuku frown. With Dabi, it was safe to assume he was just being a dick to be funny, but with Tenko it was rather genuine, no real mirth or joke to his words. Deciding not to reply, he let his head rest on top of Toga's while letting his eyes close, trying to relax while holding his cigarette between his fingers.

"I thought Jin was gonna be here. Was supposed to bring some acid or some shit." Mustard said, voice croaking as he held the smoke from his pipe in his lungs. Dabi hummed, and Izuku heard the sound of his zippo being flipped open.

"Dude's probably arguing with himself again." He said, the sound of soft crackling being heard. Jin Bubaigawara was someone...Izuku seemed to get along with, though the clear signs of multiple personalities tended to make it hard to actually talk with him, especially when he was drugged up on who knows what seventy percent of the time. A small hum left Toga's lips and he felt a couple of kisses on his collar bone, making his freckles heat up, though a little smile did play along the corners of his lips.

"Mm...my little bunny..." She mumbled, nuzzling into his collar, voice rather drowsy despite what she had all taken. His cheeks heated up a small bit, but his heart also clenched as he heard that rare nick name, and suddenly he had a flash of a bloody box cutter, a frowning young girl in a school uniform, and two boys on the ground, holding bloody wounds on their body.

"_Why did you hurt the cute bunny?"_

A loud bark of laughter mixed with coughing broke him out of the memory currently occupying the front of his mind, eyes snapping open to rest on the source of the noise, which was Mustard, bong gripped in one hand and the other a fist in front of his mouth where smoke and coughs both spilled out. Once he cleared his throat, he gave Izuku a large, shit-eating grin while setting his pipe down.

"Fucking bunny? Did she just call you a bunny? Wooow, nice." He giggled, though both Tenko and Dabi ignored him, Tenko busy packing his pipe and Dabi leaning back, head hanging off the back of the couch. Izuku, of course, didn't reply, and simply pushed his face into his girlfriend's hair while holding her a bit tighter, something she appreciated clearly by the hum against his skin.

* * *

Before he knew it, the sun was shining a light right into his eyes, making him groan as he slowly lifted himself up, wincing as he felt a couple of sharp pains all over his body. His vision was blurry, and he started to search around for his glasses, finally finding them on what felt like one of the bean bags in Dabi's jeep.

'Why am I here?' He thought while slipping them on, blinking as he looked around him. It was Dabi's jeep alright, the carpeted bottom feeling soft under his hand. Then he realized, rather quickly, he was very much naked inside of the jeep and there was a warm body next to him, his head turning to see Toga sleeping soundly next to him. And clutched in her hand, close to her bare chest was her knife, covered in what looked like dry blood. Glancing down at his body, he winced as he finally noticed all the faint scratches that ran along his body, some of them shallow, others deep enough to form large scabs.

And then it hit him, the sun was up.

Scrambling to find his phone, and hissing as the burn from last night flared to life at the sudden movement, he grabbed his pants and pulled the simple flip phone out of the pocket.

'7:36 AM'

Instant, blaring alarms started going off in his head as he read the time and any form of fatigue was pushed out of him. He didn't even have a full half-hour to get to work, and he sure as hell wouldn't have time to get home and actually dress in his uniform. His lungs suddenly felt extremely empty, and he started to breath heavily to try and pull some air into them as he realized just how absolutely fucked he was. Gulping, he went to his (very) short contacts, and when he found his boss's number, dialed him up.

Holding the phone to his ear, he tried to calm himself down while listening to the dialing tone, though it only took three seconds before his bosses calm, polite voice answered.

"Yes, Midoriya?" And despite the polite tone in Kurogiri's voice, Izuku felt his anxiety skyrocket as he gulped, mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

"Y...Hello...Hello sir, I...I was calling to-"

"I do not have all day, Midoriya. What is it." Kurogiri's voice cut right through Izuku's stuttering and made him shut his mouth, cutting off his stuttering. He could feel small tears forming in the edge of his vision as he opened his mouth to speak once more, and only a small bit more clearly.

"I...I will be a bit late to work sir." He finally said, the silence on the other end squeezing the breath out of him slowly as he waited for his boss to speak.

And then he did.

"Hmm...that won't be necessary. I just so happened to have found a new bartender, so your services will not be required as of today."

And then the line went dead, and Izuku felt his heart stop while he listened to nothing. His eyes were wide, staring out the window of the Jeep as the sun lifted itself higher into the sky. He...was fired. Just like that. All because he decided he should with Toga to Tenko's place, knowing damn well what was going to happen. And yet he still went, because he couldn't say no to Toga. Hell, he didn't even know why he was in the back of the jeep with the blonde!

Slowly he laid back down, tears starting to flood his vision and a gentle sniffle broke the silence. As if hearing him, Toga rolled over, arms snaking around his bare body and pushing her own against him, head lifting up to rest on his shoulder. Usually, he took comfort in her arms but all it felt like were snakes wrapping around him, crushing the air out of his aching lungs and the scent of crack was heavy on her breath as she cooed his name.

And then he heard a loud voice from outside.

"DID YOU PIECES OF SHIT FUCK IN THE BACK OF MY JEEP!?"


End file.
